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I am your host with the Locks That Rocks at
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a Richmond and this is Surviving Rock Oklahoma, an exclusive
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interview with a gentleman who has a storied career and
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he's going to be coming through Tulsa here in just
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a few days at the two Minutes to Tulsa event
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at the Vanguard Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Zimmerman of Atrophy.
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Hey, guys, what's talk man? This is Brian Zimmerman. Glad
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to be here.
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Brian. I know you have a lot going on this
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week and it's all you know, and it's always crazy
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anyway in the week or two leading up to an event.
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Thank you so much for sitting down with this and
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taking a couple of moments. I know you're pretty stoked
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about coming back to Oklahoma.
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Absolutely, I very much. So. If you don't know, I
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live right next door. I live in Rogers, Arkansas, so
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I consider you one of my neighbors. So this is
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a great privilege for me to It's been a while
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since we've played there, so I'm really looking forward to it.
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You know, and with you speaking that, you know you're
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living in Arkansas and your bandmates living I know a
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couple of them live in Arizona, if I'm if I'm correct,
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How was the recording process and what challenges did you
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have working on new material given the geographical divide.
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So that's been a you know, a lesson and all
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it's by itself, because you know, we used to fly
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into or drive to California from Tucson and go record
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in a regular studio that costs a lot of money
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per day. So now it's quite different, and we've each
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one of us have had to learn, you know, what
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a doa is, and an interface and getting set up
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at home so you can record. And so what we
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typically do is we will typically Mark or Nathan comes
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up with the ideas for the songs and they send
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them to me via guitar and drums. I listened to
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it and immediately I'll put something on it to where
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every song should speak to the vocalist especially, and I
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just give it a once over and I set it
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back and sometimes it hits really well, and sometimes we
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need a little work on the chorus or whatever. But
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I have some really good guys. They're super easy to
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work with, and we found that magic of how to
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record in different spots and make it sound you know,
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as we are in the studio.
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And that's that's such. And I come from a career
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in ninet and especially with the pandemic and life coming afterwards,
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it really made us catch up technologically and the way
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we do things to the way technology is in us
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being able to remotely work. You know, you've been doing
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this for a long time. Do you think in objectively
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it's easier or worse or just a little different from
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back in the old days when you guys have to
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get together and really be able to be stuck in
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a room for a while.
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So typically what we did was we would spend five
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days a week in our practice space writing getting ready,
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and once we were polished and everybody was happy with
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the material, then we were good to go. We would
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do typically tape in our local studio and then go
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out to California. But this way you have a little
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more pre production where you can actually listen to it
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and go okay again fixing the song. Maybe it only
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needs two verses instead of three, or you wanted more
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solo area. So now we can really take our time
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and write for the song itself. And you know, when
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I listen to it from front to back and I
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get a smile and I go, oh my god, that
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sounds amazing. We put that one in the can and
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move on to the next. So it's been a challenge,
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but it's wonderful to have that flexibility. Maybe I'm not
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ready to go in the studio today, but I will
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be next week. So that's another thing that's really awesome
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about work in this way.
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You know, I've done a lot of projects and had
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to collaborate with others, and you know a lot of
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times you get you know, creative opinions and stuff. You know,
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I got this thing, but I don't know how to
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articulate it just right so that you know, we all
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share the vision. And in what I've seen in like
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documentaries and stuff and folks, you know, back before the
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technological change and revolution that we've had. I always imagine
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you guys being in the same room and when you
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hit that magic cord or that magic you know, that
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chemistry sweet spot, you all get the chills. But now
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doing it remotely, you're like, oh, I got hold on,
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I got to send it to this guy. Did you
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get the same feeling? How was that for you?
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For me? Yeah? I still my arm hairs go up. Like,
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oh my god. And it's not typically when I listened
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to uh, let's say I get the guitar track with
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the drums on it, it's typically once I put the
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vocals on it, it's really becomes alive and becomes a song.
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And it still does that to me, even listening to
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our last album, I still go, holy crap, that's a basic,
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which is nice. It's a it's good to feel that
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way about your music. You know.
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You know, I was telling some of my friends, it's
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going to be playing this weekend or next week. Excuse
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me that, you know, I was going to be sitting
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down with you, and you know, a lot of them
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had mentioned, you know, having listened to Atrophy before and
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with musicians, especially heavy metal musicians, you guys really influence
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each other. And you had mentioned about still getting that
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that that sensation for yourself. Who who really kind of
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did that for you and got you wanting to get
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into music.
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So my mother started that with She was a piano
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teacher and she used to she had her own band
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out in California, and she used to just sit at
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the piano and play. And we had talked about this
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off air a little bit of the mental health aspect
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of it. And when I'm doing music, nothing else matters.
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You know, we got a war going on, all that
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stuff just shuts off. I'm in the moment. But when
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I really what really inspired me. I always loved Randy Rhodes, Ozzie,
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all these other wonderful bands. But when I knew what
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I wanted to do is when I went out to
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California and soa Axodus for the first time, like eighty
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six and I heard for the first time with Metallica Megadup.
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I was like, oh my god, Like the energy that
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came out of that was so I felt like that
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was missing for me. So I knew right then that's
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what I wanted to do. Uh, Thrash was just had
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it all, you know.
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You know, and with thrash, you were you know, rock
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music was fine, you know around that time, glam metal,
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hair metal, MTV that thrash was far from the mainstream. Yeah,
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did you you find that like a challenge with gatekeeping
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or how and how would you define thrash versus I mean,
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in a way you had to blaze your own trail.
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You do. So the one thing I did not like
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was posers, people that you know, did the hair and
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the makeup, and their music was empty, but it did
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speak to a lot of people, and it really caught
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on in the eighties, and so we were left out
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into the cold. Had a really wonderful record label, but
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our record label was not going to throw forty five
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thousand dollars down to make a videos. Matter of fact,
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they didn't really do that until Sepatura and Annihilator came along.
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I think they really believed in what they were doing
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enough to and I don't think they spent that kind
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of money, but you know, it costs a lot of
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money to make that kind of commitment and then have
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it played on MTV. And one thing I've noticed hindsight
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twenty twenty is bands that did make the videos, whether
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it was Touro, Sacre Drake, any of those bands who
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got that chance Testament to make a video. Those guys
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stepped so far above us because that the exposure of
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just that simple video was just set everything apart. And yes,
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I always felt we've always been blazing our own trail.
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You know, it hasn't been until recently. You know, I'm
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seeing Metallica tickets for like three thousand dollars I'm like,
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what the hell is this? You know, I saw Metallica
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opening up her Wasp in Phoenix, Arizona, and the club
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held one hundred and sixty people. And to see how
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far they blaze that trail, it is absolutely incredible. So
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I will never disrespect them because I thank them for
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you know, Megadi, but still, uh, the ones left behind
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who didn't get the video and all that stuff, you know,
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we're still blazing. We're still blazing that trail, you know, you.
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Know, totally different but similar.
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You know.
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One of the one when I first started really getting
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into like concerts and I found my live music addiction,
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I went and saw, you know, Papa Roach had just
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came out and they were playing Caine's Ballroom. But opening
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for them was Suppultera and I had never heard of
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Suppleta before this. And no disrespect to our our Rocklaholma headliners,
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but Suppleter stole the show. I mean, everybody, that energy,
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that what comes from thrash, It's just something you're not
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ready for. What is thrash to you?
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Thrashes exactly that it's uh, you know, when you want
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to when you hear a song or a riff or
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something in that that just wants you to put your
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head through a wall and go, holy shit. That moment
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thrash to me is the song one from Metallica. Beautifully
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beautiful song, very well written, but in the middle of
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that song when the double bass comes in and your
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arm hair is raise up for no reason and you're
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just like, holy shit, Like that's so killer. That's one
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of the things I don't find another music where I'm
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there's a sensation to it that just is incredible. You know,
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it's it's got the energy and the all the dynamics
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come come together, the great guitar playing leads all that stuff.
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I think people really it's been one of the overlooked
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genres of metal, and I think people are starting to
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wake up to it a little bit more. But it's
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it's unfortunate because man, you know, there's some damn good
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bands out there who are still playing to this day,
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and you know, when you go see him, you're just
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going to go, oh my god, like, why haven't I
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seen this before?
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You know, absolutely love it now. And speaking of some
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of that, you know your definition of that. Are we
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going to see some of that in Asylum? Oh?
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Yeah, absolutely? Well. The album's been out for it'll be
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two years on the fifteenth of this month, I believe,
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or the twenty fourth. I don't remember because the videos
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dropped before. Yeah, I mean, Punishment for All brings the
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you know, that dynamic that we're talking about. But the
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whole album is just it's kind of diverse a little bit.
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But uh, every song, I truly I still listen to
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it and I like it, which is a little different
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from me because I didn't like some of the other
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stuff that we had done. But the other guys were
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so into it, you know, and it's really nice to
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have an album that you just listen to and go,
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that's very well written from front to back. I'm very
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proud of that one. But we try to bring the
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same energy we did back in the nineties when we
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play live to this day, you know, because we want
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people to open up our discography and go, holy crap,
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there's some good, good music there, you know.
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You know, still being so proud of that album. Do
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you feel and as a musician, you're in that cycle
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of putting putting one out ever so many years, and
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do you feel that pressure to write new material and
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put new stuff out?
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Yes, this album is completely we have a whole new
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album that's completely written musically. I am currently putting vocals
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on that album, and our drummers now putting drums on it,
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and our lead guitar player is putting leads on it.
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So it's all coming together right now. I've had this
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album in my pocket for about a year. I told
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the guys when I wrote the Asylum Mum, I said,
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I'm gonna have to take a year off. Guys. I'm
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just like between making the videos and you know, the
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album cover and working with the record label writing the album.
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It's incredible how much energy it takes to do that.
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So let me give me a year, let me sit
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on this, and you know, I'll get on it. But
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it's all coming together right now. And I think this
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one should be out in the winter this year.
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I love it now. You've you've still been busy though
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in the meantime. I mean you've you've been all over
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the world. I see that you've had some South and
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North American festivals, but you're still trying to produce this
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thing you've had in your pocket. And if you don't
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mind me touching on too much, I've noticed you've had
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a few lineup changes. I mean, how is all of
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that affecting each other?
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It has affected us drastically. Actually in two thousand, uh,
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you know, when COVID hit, we were over in Europe doing
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a European tour. But the one thing that we were
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missing we weren't writing much and the music that was
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being written wasn't really up to what I thought needed
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to be. After Violent by Nature, I thought that was
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a very good album. I wanted the top that album.
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It was very important to me. And so yes, we
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did change some of the guys there, and we came
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we came back. We got a new drummer from Phoenix,
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and unfortunately it just didn't work out. But you know,
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we were booking stuff in the meantime, and then we
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found another drummer. He was great, really really good drummer
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and he has two little kids at home, and before
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he came into the band, I said, dude, I said,
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that's it's going to be tough, you know, and he said, oh, yeah,
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no problem. So we lost him. So in between those
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spots you have to realize you've got to get him
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up to speed so you can't do shows. So we
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found our last drummer just over a year ago and
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he's not going anywhere, so he's gonna finish this album
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with us and continue on. He's got a good job
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where he doesn't have the whole family life. He can
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do it when he needs to leave. But yeah, we've
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tried to do touring as much as possible and keep writing.
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So yeah, it's been a bit of a challenge.
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I respect that especially. I mean in just the last
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five years alone. I can only speak for myself, but
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I know I speak for many that pandemic or no.
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I mean, the last five years have been a tumultuous,
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to say the least in every way. But I do
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have a fun fact and this is pretty awesome. I'd
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like to meet record holders any time I can. But
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my understanding is that after Atrophy was the first metal
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band to play in the check because you were on
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tour opening for coren Oh.
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We were over there with Sacred Reich on that touray.
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So you have to remember in nineteen ninety the Berlin
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Wall had just fallen. In fact, we were one of
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the first bands over in East Germany because that you know,
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that was off limits. So you can imagine the people,
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the feeling, and it was just a time and history
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where it was incredible. But yeah, I mean people in
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the you know, they were secretly trading tapes. We had
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no idea, you know, it was going to go off
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or not over in the Eastern Block, but they were
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just being recently liberated and it was pretty pretty amazing.
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I have to think.
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Those Europeans, man, they didn't know how to freaking rock too.
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I mean, this predates like Romstein and you know, the
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big metal. I mean, but if that stuff wouldn't have happened,
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we wouldn't have these bands.
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That's not insane, Yes they are. They're ravenous for music
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and it's kind of a way of life for them.
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And I see the difference between what was the nineties,
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eighty nine, ninety and now in America. America's really fallen
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off and they're wanting to go out and enjoy live music,
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and you know there's still crowds, but you know, they're
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not sold out houses. And I heard something very telling
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from the Exodus. Gary Holt said, you know, it's much
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different now. You know, they may play for three hundred
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people where they were playing for three thousand before. So
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you know, it's changing because digital music, you know, it
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videos on TV. You know, everybody gets to make a
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video now. It's it's easy and cheap, So.
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You know that Also that kind of brings a bit
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to mind for me because in these times it's it
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Also it changed with the digital age. It's it is
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that trade off. Everything's instantaneous. But also anybody can create,
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anybody with an idea. It's a lot easier to manifest
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something rather than and I know there's a lot of
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mixed results feelings, and obviously we all hate AI to
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some degree, but do you do you find that it
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thrash and the genre is going to survive and that
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we will as humans will still be able to put
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the heart into it, because I mean, this is just
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something else.
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It is a I'm a YouTube guy. I love YouTube.
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I watch a lot of it. I watched a guy
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make a thrash song from AI and I was blown away.
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I'm going to be one hundred percent honest, but it
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was missing something, you you know, it was almost like
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Megadeth but perfect leads with I don't know, and the
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singer was amazing. And then a friend of mine, I
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think a week ago, he said, hey, I just wrote
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this song, and he sent it to me, and he
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asked me if I would re sing it for him
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because he wanted live musicians. And I listened to it
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and I said, well, what's wrong with that singer? He's good,
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you know? He said, well, it's an AI song. And
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I'm like, I just felt kind of sick to my stomach,
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Like we're all being catfished now. Whether it's in our politics,
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it's in our music now. It's poisoning humanity as we speak,
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you know, and then we have to pay for the
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data centers. It's something that I don't think we want
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and we don't sure the hell do I don't need.
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It does have its place in business, and I'm going
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to be honest. I have used it if I'm stumped
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on a I come up with the subject. But I can't.
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It's just not working for me. Where it comes in
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for me is it'll get my brain to unlock.
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Oh.
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I didn't think of it that way, But I won't
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use that product. I completely change it and come at
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it a little different way, little perspectively, I think that
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would be the best word. But I'm pretty much against
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this stuff. Yeah, you know, yeah, I think we get
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shipped for we were going to book a South American
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tour and the promoters make their own flyers. We don't
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do that, and people are like, oh, I'm not gonna
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I'm gonna unfollow the band you're using. AI. Hey, I
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didn't do that. I wouldn't do that. I think it
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demeans music. I think it demeans I'm also an artist.
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I've always done art, and I think it just takes
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whenever we're going to start using our brains instead of
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not using them and just being lazy and creating. Creating
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is something very special, and I'll be very sad if
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that happens.
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You know well, and that's why we need you guys
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who who uh was here before the revolution so that
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you can maybe citiz and show us that you know,
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the lazy way isn't always the right way because in
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this life, especially in the music industry, the grind is
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what separates the men from the boys now. Truly, if
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I before I rap things up with us tonight, what
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is next for Atrophy?
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What's up next is We're going to finish this album.
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We have a bunch of dates book this year, mainly
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in America due to you know, the politics stuff that's
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going on in some of the wars that have started.
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It's just and we haven't really focused much on the
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United States. So we're going to kind of focus on
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that and do some European stuff next year. But I
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think we just need to really focus on the next
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album and get that out and then everything open up
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after that, you know, new music, new opportunities, and just
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continue with the legacy that we've started.
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I like that, and Will said, and you know, before
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we close things out, I always like to give my
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guests an opportunity just to take a couple of minutes
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and directly look in the camera and acknowledge their fans,
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the people they are going to be seeing in a
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couple of weeks here at the Vaneguard in Tulsa, the
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folks that are you know, listening on you to all
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of the streaming services, and who can't wait for that
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new album to come out. Brian, the stage is.
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Yours, Atrophy. Thanks everybody who buys our album, listens to
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our music, comes to the shows, buys a T shirt,
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and we wouldn't be here because of you. And I
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want to say one other thing, Hey, let all these
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pots crap go. We all live in a beautiful country.
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I love our country. It's very important to me. Every
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time I come home, I kiss the ground, I walk on,
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I thank the Lord that I was born here, and
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let's stick together and make a better place for all humanity.
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But thank you, guys. I greatly appreciate each and every
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one of you. Thank you.
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There's no way better way to follow that up. Thank
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you so much Brian for making time force. We look
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forward to seeing you here in a couple of weeks.
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For Brian of Atrophy. I am the host with the
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lux that Rocks, Adam Richmond. This is the official podcast
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00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.839
of rock Lahoma and your source of all things loud, local,
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and live. Till next time, Rock on Peace.
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Nine
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I am your host with the Locks That Rocks at
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00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.559
a Richmond and this is Surviving Rock Oklahoma, an exclusive
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interview with a gentleman who has a storied career and
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he's going to be coming through Tulsa here in just
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a few days at the two Minutes to Tulsa event
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at the Vanguard Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Zimmerman of Atrophy.
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Hey, guys, what's talk man? This is Brian Zimmerman. Glad
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to be here.
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Brian. I know you have a lot going on this
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week and it's all you know, and it's always crazy
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anyway in the week or two leading up to an event.
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Thank you so much for sitting down with this and
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taking a couple of moments. I know you're pretty stoked
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about coming back to Oklahoma.
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Absolutely, I very much. So. If you don't know, I
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live right next door. I live in Rogers, Arkansas, so
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I consider you one of my neighbors. So this is
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a great privilege for me to It's been a while
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since we've played there, so I'm really looking forward to it.
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You know, and with you speaking that, you know you're
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living in Arkansas and your bandmates living I know a
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couple of them live in Arizona, if I'm if I'm correct,
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How was the recording process and what challenges did you
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have working on new material given the geographical divide.
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So that's been a you know, a lesson and all
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it's by itself, because you know, we used to fly
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into or drive to California from Tucson and go record
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in a regular studio that costs a lot of money
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per day. So now it's quite different, and we've each
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one of us have had to learn, you know, what
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a doa is, and an interface and getting set up
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at home so you can record. And so what we
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typically do is we will typically Mark or Nathan comes
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up with the ideas for the songs and they send
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them to me via guitar and drums. I listened to
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it and immediately I'll put something on it to where
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every song should speak to the vocalist especially, and I
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just give it a once over and I set it
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back and sometimes it hits really well, and sometimes we
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need a little work on the chorus or whatever. But
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I have some really good guys. They're super easy to
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work with, and we found that magic of how to
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record in different spots and make it sound you know,
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as we are in the studio.
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And that's that's such. And I come from a career
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in ninet and especially with the pandemic and life coming afterwards,
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it really made us catch up technologically and the way
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we do things to the way technology is in us
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being able to remotely work. You know, you've been doing
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this for a long time. Do you think in objectively
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it's easier or worse or just a little different from
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back in the old days when you guys have to
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get together and really be able to be stuck in
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a room for a while.
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So typically what we did was we would spend five
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days a week in our practice space writing getting ready,
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and once we were polished and everybody was happy with
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the material, then we were good to go. We would
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do typically tape in our local studio and then go
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out to California. But this way you have a little
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more pre production where you can actually listen to it
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and go okay again fixing the song. Maybe it only
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needs two verses instead of three, or you wanted more
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solo area. So now we can really take our time
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and write for the song itself. And you know, when
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I listen to it from front to back and I
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get a smile and I go, oh my god, that
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sounds amazing. We put that one in the can and
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move on to the next. So it's been a challenge,
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but it's wonderful to have that flexibility. Maybe I'm not
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ready to go in the studio today, but I will
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be next week. So that's another thing that's really awesome
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about work in this way.
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You know, I've done a lot of projects and had
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to collaborate with others, and you know a lot of
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times you get you know, creative opinions and stuff. You know,
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I got this thing, but I don't know how to
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articulate it just right so that you know, we all
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share the vision. And in what I've seen in like
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documentaries and stuff and folks, you know, back before the
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technological change and revolution that we've had. I always imagine
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you guys being in the same room and when you
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hit that magic cord or that magic you know, that
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chemistry sweet spot, you all get the chills. But now
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doing it remotely, you're like, oh, I got hold on,
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I got to send it to this guy. Did you
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get the same feeling? How was that for you?
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For me? Yeah? I still my arm hairs go up. Like,
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oh my god. And it's not typically when I listened
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to uh, let's say I get the guitar track with
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the drums on it, it's typically once I put the
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vocals on it, it's really becomes alive and becomes a song.
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And it still does that to me, even listening to
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our last album, I still go, holy crap, that's a basic,
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which is nice. It's a it's good to feel that
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way about your music. You know.
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You know, I was telling some of my friends, it's
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going to be playing this weekend or next week. Excuse
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me that, you know, I was going to be sitting
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down with you, and you know, a lot of them
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had mentioned, you know, having listened to Atrophy before and
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with musicians, especially heavy metal musicians, you guys really influence
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each other. And you had mentioned about still getting that
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that that sensation for yourself. Who who really kind of
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did that for you and got you wanting to get
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into music.
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So my mother started that with She was a piano
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teacher and she used to she had her own band
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out in California, and she used to just sit at
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the piano and play. And we had talked about this
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off air a little bit of the mental health aspect
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of it. And when I'm doing music, nothing else matters.
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You know, we got a war going on, all that
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stuff just shuts off. I'm in the moment. But when
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I really what really inspired me. I always loved Randy Rhodes, Ozzie,
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all these other wonderful bands. But when I knew what
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I wanted to do is when I went out to
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California and soa Axodus for the first time, like eighty
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six and I heard for the first time with Metallica Megadup.
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I was like, oh my god, Like the energy that
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came out of that was so I felt like that
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was missing for me. So I knew right then that's
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what I wanted to do. Uh, Thrash was just had
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it all, you know.
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You know, and with thrash, you were you know, rock
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music was fine, you know around that time, glam metal,
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hair metal, MTV that thrash was far from the mainstream. Yeah,
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did you you find that like a challenge with gatekeeping
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or how and how would you define thrash versus I mean,
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in a way you had to blaze your own trail.
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You do. So the one thing I did not like
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was posers, people that you know, did the hair and
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the makeup, and their music was empty, but it did
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speak to a lot of people, and it really caught
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on in the eighties, and so we were left out
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into the cold. Had a really wonderful record label, but
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our record label was not going to throw forty five
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thousand dollars down to make a videos. Matter of fact,
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they didn't really do that until Sepatura and Annihilator came along.
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I think they really believed in what they were doing
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enough to and I don't think they spent that kind
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of money, but you know, it costs a lot of
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money to make that kind of commitment and then have
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it played on MTV. And one thing I've noticed hindsight
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twenty twenty is bands that did make the videos, whether
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it was Touro, Sacre Drake, any of those bands who
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got that chance Testament to make a video. Those guys
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stepped so far above us because that the exposure of
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just that simple video was just set everything apart. And yes,
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I always felt we've always been blazing our own trail.
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You know, it hasn't been until recently. You know, I'm
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seeing Metallica tickets for like three thousand dollars I'm like,
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what the hell is this? You know, I saw Metallica
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opening up her Wasp in Phoenix, Arizona, and the club
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held one hundred and sixty people. And to see how
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far they blaze that trail, it is absolutely incredible. So
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I will never disrespect them because I thank them for
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you know, Megadi, but still, uh, the ones left behind
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who didn't get the video and all that stuff, you know,
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we're still blazing. We're still blazing that trail, you know, you.
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Know, totally different but similar.
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You know.
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One of the one when I first started really getting
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into like concerts and I found my live music addiction,
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I went and saw, you know, Papa Roach had just
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came out and they were playing Caine's Ballroom. But opening
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for them was Suppultera and I had never heard of
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Suppleta before this. And no disrespect to our our Rocklaholma headliners,
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but Suppleter stole the show. I mean, everybody, that energy,
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that what comes from thrash, It's just something you're not
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ready for. What is thrash to you?
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Thrashes exactly that it's uh, you know, when you want
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to when you hear a song or a riff or
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something in that that just wants you to put your
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head through a wall and go, holy shit. That moment
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thrash to me is the song one from Metallica. Beautifully
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beautiful song, very well written, but in the middle of
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that song when the double bass comes in and your
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arm hair is raise up for no reason and you're
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just like, holy shit, Like that's so killer. That's one
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of the things I don't find another music where I'm
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there's a sensation to it that just is incredible. You know,
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it's it's got the energy and the all the dynamics
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come come together, the great guitar playing leads all that stuff.
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I think people really it's been one of the overlooked
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genres of metal, and I think people are starting to
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wake up to it a little bit more. But it's
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it's unfortunate because man, you know, there's some damn good
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bands out there who are still playing to this day,
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and you know, when you go see him, you're just
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going to go, oh my god, like, why haven't I
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seen this before?
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You know, absolutely love it now. And speaking of some
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of that, you know your definition of that. Are we
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going to see some of that in Asylum? Oh?
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Yeah, absolutely? Well. The album's been out for it'll be
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two years on the fifteenth of this month, I believe,
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or the twenty fourth. I don't remember because the videos
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dropped before. Yeah, I mean, Punishment for All brings the
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you know, that dynamic that we're talking about. But the
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whole album is just it's kind of diverse a little bit.
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But uh, every song, I truly I still listen to
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it and I like it, which is a little different
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from me because I didn't like some of the other
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stuff that we had done. But the other guys were
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so into it, you know, and it's really nice to
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have an album that you just listen to and go,
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that's very well written from front to back. I'm very
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proud of that one. But we try to bring the
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same energy we did back in the nineties when we
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play live to this day, you know, because we want
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people to open up our discography and go, holy crap,
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there's some good, good music there, you know.
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You know, still being so proud of that album. Do
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you feel and as a musician, you're in that cycle
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of putting putting one out ever so many years, and
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do you feel that pressure to write new material and
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put new stuff out?
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Yes, this album is completely we have a whole new
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album that's completely written musically. I am currently putting vocals
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on that album, and our drummers now putting drums on it,
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and our lead guitar player is putting leads on it.
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So it's all coming together right now. I've had this
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album in my pocket for about a year. I told
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the guys when I wrote the Asylum Mum, I said,
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I'm gonna have to take a year off. Guys. I'm
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just like between making the videos and you know, the
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album cover and working with the record label writing the album.
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It's incredible how much energy it takes to do that.
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So let me give me a year, let me sit
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on this, and you know, I'll get on it. But
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it's all coming together right now. And I think this
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one should be out in the winter this year.
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I love it now. You've you've still been busy though
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in the meantime. I mean you've you've been all over
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the world. I see that you've had some South and
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North American festivals, but you're still trying to produce this
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thing you've had in your pocket. And if you don't
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mind me touching on too much, I've noticed you've had
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a few lineup changes. I mean, how is all of
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that affecting each other?
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It has affected us drastically. Actually in two thousand, uh,
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you know, when COVID hit, we were over in Europe doing
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a European tour. But the one thing that we were
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missing we weren't writing much and the music that was
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being written wasn't really up to what I thought needed
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to be. After Violent by Nature, I thought that was
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a very good album. I wanted the top that album.
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It was very important to me. And so yes, we
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did change some of the guys there, and we came
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we came back. We got a new drummer from Phoenix,
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and unfortunately it just didn't work out. But you know,
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we were booking stuff in the meantime, and then we
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found another drummer. He was great, really really good drummer
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and he has two little kids at home, and before
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he came into the band, I said, dude, I said,
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that's it's going to be tough, you know, and he said, oh, yeah,
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no problem. So we lost him. So in between those
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spots you have to realize you've got to get him
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up to speed so you can't do shows. So we
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found our last drummer just over a year ago and
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he's not going anywhere, so he's gonna finish this album
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with us and continue on. He's got a good job
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where he doesn't have the whole family life. He can
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do it when he needs to leave. But yeah, we've
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tried to do touring as much as possible and keep writing.
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So yeah, it's been a bit of a challenge.
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I respect that especially. I mean in just the last
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five years alone. I can only speak for myself, but
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I know I speak for many that pandemic or no.
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I mean, the last five years have been a tumultuous,
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to say the least in every way. But I do
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have a fun fact and this is pretty awesome. I'd
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like to meet record holders any time I can. But
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my understanding is that after Atrophy was the first metal
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band to play in the check because you were on
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tour opening for coren Oh.
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We were over there with Sacred Reich on that touray.
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So you have to remember in nineteen ninety the Berlin
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Wall had just fallen. In fact, we were one of
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the first bands over in East Germany because that you know,
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that was off limits. So you can imagine the people,
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the feeling, and it was just a time and history
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where it was incredible. But yeah, I mean people in
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the you know, they were secretly trading tapes. We had
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no idea, you know, it was going to go off
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or not over in the Eastern Block, but they were
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just being recently liberated and it was pretty pretty amazing.
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I have to think.
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Those Europeans, man, they didn't know how to freaking rock too.
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I mean, this predates like Romstein and you know, the
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big metal. I mean, but if that stuff wouldn't have happened,
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we wouldn't have these bands.
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That's not insane, Yes they are. They're ravenous for music
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and it's kind of a way of life for them.
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And I see the difference between what was the nineties,
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eighty nine, ninety and now in America. America's really fallen
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off and they're wanting to go out and enjoy live music,
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and you know there's still crowds, but you know, they're
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not sold out houses. And I heard something very telling
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from the Exodus. Gary Holt said, you know, it's much
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different now. You know, they may play for three hundred
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people where they were playing for three thousand before. So
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you know, it's changing because digital music, you know, it
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videos on TV. You know, everybody gets to make a
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video now. It's it's easy and cheap, So.
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You know that Also that kind of brings a bit
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to mind for me because in these times it's it
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Also it changed with the digital age. It's it is
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that trade off. Everything's instantaneous. But also anybody can create,
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anybody with an idea. It's a lot easier to manifest
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something rather than and I know there's a lot of
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mixed results feelings, and obviously we all hate AI to
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some degree, but do you do you find that it
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thrash and the genre is going to survive and that
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we will as humans will still be able to put
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the heart into it, because I mean, this is just
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something else.
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It is a I'm a YouTube guy. I love YouTube.
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I watch a lot of it. I watched a guy
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make a thrash song from AI and I was blown away.
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I'm going to be one hundred percent honest, but it
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was missing something, you you know, it was almost like
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Megadeth but perfect leads with I don't know, and the
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singer was amazing. And then a friend of mine, I
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think a week ago, he said, hey, I just wrote
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this song, and he sent it to me, and he
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asked me if I would re sing it for him
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because he wanted live musicians. And I listened to it
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and I said, well, what's wrong with that singer? He's good,
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you know? He said, well, it's an AI song. And
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I'm like, I just felt kind of sick to my stomach,
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Like we're all being catfished now. Whether it's in our politics,
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it's in our music now. It's poisoning humanity as we speak,
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you know, and then we have to pay for the
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data centers. It's something that I don't think we want
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and we don't sure the hell do I don't need.
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It does have its place in business, and I'm going
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to be honest. I have used it if I'm stumped
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on a I come up with the subject. But I can't.
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It's just not working for me. Where it comes in
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for me is it'll get my brain to unlock.
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Oh.
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I didn't think of it that way, But I won't
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use that product. I completely change it and come at
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it a little different way, little perspectively, I think that
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would be the best word. But I'm pretty much against
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this stuff. Yeah, you know, yeah, I think we get
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shipped for we were going to book a South American
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tour and the promoters make their own flyers. We don't
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do that, and people are like, oh, I'm not gonna
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I'm gonna unfollow the band you're using. AI. Hey, I
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didn't do that. I wouldn't do that. I think it
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demeans music. I think it demeans I'm also an artist.
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I've always done art, and I think it just takes
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whenever we're going to start using our brains instead of
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not using them and just being lazy and creating. Creating
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is something very special, and I'll be very sad if
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that happens.
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You know well, and that's why we need you guys
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who who uh was here before the revolution so that
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you can maybe citiz and show us that you know,
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the lazy way isn't always the right way because in
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this life, especially in the music industry, the grind is
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what separates the men from the boys now. Truly, if
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I before I rap things up with us tonight, what
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is next for Atrophy?
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What's up next is We're going to finish this album.
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We have a bunch of dates book this year, mainly
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in America due to you know, the politics stuff that's
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going on in some of the wars that have started.
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It's just and we haven't really focused much on the
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United States. So we're going to kind of focus on
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that and do some European stuff next year. But I
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think we just need to really focus on the next
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album and get that out and then everything open up
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after that, you know, new music, new opportunities, and just
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continue with the legacy that we've started.
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I like that, and Will said, and you know, before
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we close things out, I always like to give my
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guests an opportunity just to take a couple of minutes
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and directly look in the camera and acknowledge their fans,
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the people they are going to be seeing in a
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couple of weeks here at the Vaneguard in Tulsa, the
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folks that are you know, listening on you to all
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of the streaming services, and who can't wait for that
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new album to come out. Brian, the stage is.
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Yours, Atrophy. Thanks everybody who buys our album, listens to
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our music, comes to the shows, buys a T shirt,
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and we wouldn't be here because of you. And I
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want to say one other thing, Hey, let all these
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pots crap go. We all live in a beautiful country.
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I love our country. It's very important to me. Every
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time I come home, I kiss the ground, I walk on,
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I thank the Lord that I was born here, and
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let's stick together and make a better place for all humanity.
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But thank you, guys. I greatly appreciate each and every
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one of you. Thank you.
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There's no way better way to follow that up. Thank
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you so much Brian for making time force. We look
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forward to seeing you here in a couple of weeks.
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For Brian of Atrophy. I am the host with the
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lux that Rocks, Adam Richmond. This is the official podcast
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of rock Lahoma and your source of all things loud, local,
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and live. Till next time, Rock on Peace.
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Nine
